Servando Gómez Martínez
' Servando Gómez Martínez', a.k.a. La Tuta and El Profe (born on February 6, 1966) is a Mexican drug trafficker who once was a lieutenant for and founding member of La Familia Michoacana Cartel. He is now a The Knights Templar Cartel drug lord. Biography Gómez Martínez served as the operational chief and spokesperson for the now extinct La Familia Michoacana Cartel, which sometimes was described as quasi-religious, since its former leader, Nazario Moreno González, referred to their assassinations and beheadings as "divine justice." Gómez Martínez has been indicted in the United States with conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico. According to the Gomez Martinez indictment, he is, among other things, responsible for ensuring that La Familia's drug trafficking activities awere not impeded by law enforcement, and also for acquiring weapons for use by the cartel. The Indictment alleges that, on July 17, 2009, a few days after the bodies of twelve murdered Mexican federal law enforcement officers were discovered following the arrest of a cartel leader, Alberto Espinoza Barron. Gómez Martínez made a recorded statement to a local television station in Michoacan, in which he publicly acknowledged that he was a member of La Familia Cartel, and, among other things, stated that the cartel was in a battle against the Mexican federal police and prosecutors. He also offered the Mexican federal security forces a truce in exchange of freedom to continue their illegal drug trade. President Felipe Calderón's government refused to strike a deal with the cartel and ignored their calls for dialogue. Co-founder of the Knights Templar Cartel Servando Gómez Martínez's partners in La Familia Cartel were Nazario Moreno González, José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, Enrique Plancarte Solís and Dionicio Loya Plancarte, who each have had a bounty of $2 million dollars each for their capture. After La Familia leader Nazario Moreno González was shot dead by security forces, Méndez-Vargas took control of La Familia. Soon afterwards, Martinez and Plancarte broke up with Méndez-Vargas and formed The Knights Templar Cartel. This splinter group soon developed a rivalry with La Familia. On June 21, 2011, Méndez-Vargas was captured by Mexican security forces. On August 7, 2011, the Mexican Attorney General reported that the La Familia Cartel was disbanded. Video appearance Gómez Martínez appeared on a rare video in the Blog del Narco on 22 August 2012 explaining the "peaceful credentials" of the Knights Templar Cartel and asking the leaders of Mexico's drug trafficking organizations to join forces and put down Miguel Angel Treviño Morales (Z-40), one of the leaders of The Los Zetas Organization. The footage begins with a close-up of a quote and poster attributed to Che Guevara; the camera then pans out to reveal a Mexican flag in the background, an idol of a knight, and a photo of Fidel Castro, a revolutionary leader of Cuba. With the scene set, Gómez Martínez appears directly in front of the camera, and addresses a 11-minute video to the Mexican people, President Felipe Calderón, and the rest of the Mexican drug cartels. He insisted that his organization is a "necessary evil," and insists that his organization is "not a cartel, nor any kind of organized criminal group. They are a brotherhood, founded by a set of statutes and codes." He then goes on to explain that the Knights Templar's "only function is to help the people, preserve the state ... and keep Mexico free of people causing terror ... and live in peace." Gómez Martínez then asks other cartels to create a "common front" against Los Zetas and asks Calderón to take on his action. Category:La Familia Michoacana Category:Knights Templar Cartel